From: Automatic digest processor To: Recipients of SOMMS digests Subject: SOMMS Digest - 15 Feb 1999 to 16 Feb 1999 Date: Tuesday, February 16, 1999 1:57 AM There are 4 messages totalling 307 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. new site, old videos? (re-post) 2. Cornell 3. there is a churning storm... 4. The Perfect Steal To UNSUBSCRIBE from SOMMS, send email to LISTSERV@MITVMA.MIT.EDU with the following in the body of your message: SIGNOFF SOMMS ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 15 Feb 1999 04:40:32 -0500 From: Kendrick Kay Subject: new site, old videos? (re-post) for some reason, my previous post showed up as ugly HTML..so here it is again: --- I just finished making a unique Soundgarden site (in other words, no rehash of the same old material). For those of you who visited my old site, this one is far better.. My personal take on what Soundgarden means, selected pictures (credit to the Unofficial Soundgarden Site), lyric analysis, as well as a really cool seven-minute mp3 with clips from each song on their six albums (very interesting to listen to). http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~kay/limowreck Also: If anyone out there has any of these videos, please let me know, as I can offer much in return: 11/28/89 - Houston TX, Fitzgerald's 04/07/90 - London, The Marquee 1990 German TV show "Rocklife"; Philipshalle, Dusseldorf --- ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Feb 1999 16:33:11 EST From: andrew gorlich Subject: Cornell hi everyone! i just would like anyone to contact me if u find out when Chris's solo album is coming out. i know that it is coming out in april i just would like to know when. i loved the song off the "Great expectations " soundtrack called "sunshower" and i heard that that is what the album is going to sound like. Please, tell me if you know the date! -Andy "Dying words I bury every day" ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1999 11:49:07 +1000 From: justin nicholls Subject: there is a churning storm... a big ass bass drum, warm volume and pterodactyl-like shrieking - this is pretty much my own vision of the led zeppelin sound. the universal rhythm of robert johnson and the swirling improvisation of jimi hendrix, electrified by robert plant's amazing windpipe. I was first introduced to the band's music roughly eight years ago, making me somewhat of a led zeppelin newbie, I guess. sadly, I've been a little remiss when it comes to my zeppelin duties of late and haven't listened to any of their work in at least six months. bad, bad justin. so when I found their most recent record, _bbc sessions_, on sale recently, I bought it. the cover art seems a little bit of a departure from the flavour of their other recent releases, but not in a bad way. most of the performances are wonderful, 'black dog' and both versions of 'you shook me' really standing out as the best. I really admire how these four men were able to lock down a thumbscrew-tight groove or flip into a ten minute jam with equal aplomb, time and time again. that is something magical in the world of music, the fusion of ability and chemistry that is sometimes breathtaking, but always remarkable. and with that, let the song of the week be reborn... 'rhinosaur', the second song from _down on the upside_, reminds me strongly of the zeppelin groove, circa _physical graffiti_. written by matt cameron and chris cornell, it has that medieval mood to it, a measured beat that brings to mind grey castles, sludgy moats and the sun setting over the battlefield. this is not to say that rhinosaur is the heaviest song on the record, but it certainly has it's own unique weight and charm. sounding like a polished track taken from the _ultramega ok_ vault, 'rhinosaur' is a 6/8 piece of stonehenge. there's just no other way to describe it. other than that it is a poor song. yep, I said it. there does exist a substandard post-badmotorfinger soundgarden song. half is a squeaky oddity. switch opens is a bit patchy in spots. but rhinosaur is just about the only soundgarden song that totally misses the mark. the intro, as it should, sets the song into it's inevitable lurch. from the outset, this is a drummer's groove, one that doesn't quite translate melodically. I like the rhythm, but find the rest of it hard to swallow. as per usual, kim's guitar comes from the right channel, chris' from the left; but combine in a rather unusual manner for a soundgarden song. the riff sounds tiresome and lackluster, the notes dragging their leaden feet throughout the entire number. there's some little overdubs and accents added to the mix, but they don't seem to accomplish much. it just sounds unhealthy. this is, of course, a matt cameron tune. and I have nothing but the utmost respect for him as a musician and song writer. but 'rhinosaur' doesn't work for me. it doesn't matter how many times I listen to it, I just can't seem to get along with it. I've listened to the song probably twenty times while writing this and I still don't like it. I remember hearing it for the first time, thinking it was pretty damn cool. kim plays in dropped-d, everyone else in standard, plenty of distortion hanging in the air, not a bad song at all. certainly not my favourite dotu song, but a good one nonetheless. but after listening to it for about three years now, 'rhinosaur' has lost it's sheen. it seems thin and poorly maintained. it also holds the esteemed "track two spot" in which so many other songs have sat and shone; 'my wave' and 'outshined' took their respective records to other realms while 'rhinosaur' only serves to bog things down. I imagine the band could have done a lot more with it. I don't profess to know how matt cameron writes his music or figures his drum parts. I'm fairly certain that he prefers to bang out riffs on his guitar and then adds the drum parts afterwards. from time to time he may even come up with drum figures and then try to work out a melody. I don't know for sure. whatever method he used for 'rhinosaur' doesn't work, though. there's a definite groove there, that much is for certain. but as I alluded to earlier, it doesn't translate melodically. the guitars are all labouring away for minimal gain. there's just nothing happening. I mean, look at his other work. 'drawing flies' rocks. 'mailman' is perhaps my favourite soundgarden song. 'limo wreck' is completely amazing. there's energy, there's enthusiasm and there's flat out brilliance, both in concept and delivery. 'rhinosaur' lacks all of these. matt's drumming is good, but not inspired, something I guess I really expect from him. and then there's kim's guitar parts. again, I admire kim immensely (blowing on the strings? that rocks!). his parts on this song, however, leave a lot to be desired. they are, for the most part, pretty flat and uninteresting. so what was kim thinking? here is what he had to say in _guitar_ magazine, july 96 - "there were three different solos recorded for that. there's a solo at the intro which is more like a droning, hypnotic thing. then there's a lead part, which is more of a fast sort of rock guitar thing with wahwah, then there's the ending part. what we found was that the droning didn't have the energy. although it was trippy, it didn't have the wildness needed for the middle section. the parts that I'd first written that were more rhythmic and melodic ended up sounding like something from mountain or maybe like a jimmy page riff. it was pretty sounding, but it lacked the wildnessit's more of a mood, there's no harmonic logic at all. it's supposed to be 'let go and be wild'. when I listen back to it there are little surprises here and there that I enjoy, because it's very spontaneous." I don't like to be over-analytical, but let's look at a couple of the key words in that statement. I feel like the song is droning, but perhaps not in the same way the band saw it. the guitars are far less hypnotic than most soundgarden songs of the same nature. I'd also disagree with "trippy". 'rhinosaur' lacks the subtlety necessary to be anything but a big, slow punch in the face. then there's the spontaneity. the middle solo (read: total deviation) sounds totally out of style, so in contrast to the primary melody that it is no longer a contrast but an unfortunate accident, a mistaken brushstroke. the lack of logic is jarring and it really passes through the song unwillingly. the song just totally changes for thirty-three seconds, a planned spontaneity that really does nothing to improve things. a change of pace worked spectacularly for 'rusty cage' but it does not work here. the lyrics and vocals were done last, which is somewhat evident. the lyrics themselves are fairly weird, drawing from the usual contented bitterness and venom of earlier soundgarden songs, but with a large dose of mysticism and fantasy mixed in - sort of like what an evil robert plant might write. most soundgarden fans have taken time to consider what chris' lyrics mean or signify, but I would wager that the subject matter here is completely fictitious. of course there was a bit of talk about what exactly a rhinosaur was in some interviews, but the lyrics themselves appear pretty imaginative. chris did note, however, that while the lyrics weren't directed at anyone in particular, the song "could be about one person or group" (cmj july 96). put that in your pipe and smoke it, I guess. the song's history contains one small gem, though, and that is "the straw that broke the camel's back" remix. reworked by bill rieflin of ministry, 'rhinosaur' takes on a different persona here; there's stuff added, the parts are rearranged and there's even an extra thirty seconds, which is to some extent significant considering that the original is barely three minutes long. possibly the most obvious difference is that the remix is much more sparse than the album version- there's more air between the guitars, making the parts sound separate, as though they were floating around each other but not fraternising. ben's bass is more prominent during the introduction and first chorus, perhaps because there's no sludgy guitar getting in the way, although there is a hint of kim's wail in the left speaker. the guitar tracks are then reapplied for the chorus and onwards. the drums are clear, but chris' voice has an odd buzz. I think I can discern two vocal tracks, one normal and one fuzzed. there is also additional percussion, a repetitive beat falling on each count, most probably originating from rieflin. it reminds me a little of the organic-type percussion from 'spoonman', but would probably be more synthetic in nature. hold it. during the intro, matt's snare has a way cool reverb placed to either side. that's cool! I hadn't heard that until this very moment. it sounds great. during the second verse, things get mixed up even more. rieflin switches the guitars around a bit, so that each second line is sung to the chorus progression. rieflin also likes the diving guitar tone heard at the end of each chorus lyric (at .23, .28, .32 in the original version, for example), and uses it frequently. it all sounds good, it gives a bit of roughness to the song, a bit more bite, which I think the original would have benefited from. the second chorus brings the percussion with it, making the song sound far more industrial than anything soundgarden ever recorded. at 2.06 an instrumental bridge begins, corresponding with the original's bridge at 1.57. the guitars play the altered verse riff, matt's drums are straight (although with the cool snare reverb!) and rieflin adds a bunch of heavy, tribal sounding drums, which sound great next to the shuffling riff. there's more motion and more attack; it might even sound similar to matt's original demo. most significantly, kim's original solo is not featured during this section. perhaps rieflin felt that going further in the beat-driven rhythm was the way to go here, and not towards the flailing solo that made the record. the chorus returns quietly at first, chris' delivery understated, which makes the static drenched attack of "only healing when you ache, only feeling when you don't" so much more spiteful. the remix ends with a three second bridge, an abbreviated take on kim's middle solo and then a fade into a mish mash of white noise and a lone snare. the verdict? not sure. it's taken me almost three hours to complete this. I don't like writing bad stuff about soundgarden, so everything has been carefully considered after forcing it's way through my own biased soundgarden filter. at least I've tried to tell the truth . the original is not that good. it's not totally horrible, but in my opinion it does not hold a candle to most soundgarden songs, and I think that is where the true measure is found. I think that it provides a good blueprint for a future song, but it is not a good final mix. perhaps the band rushed through this one or tried to be just a little bit too spontaneous. I like demo material most times, but I don't know that trying to capture that "first take" type of thing worked in this instance. a big groove and big potential, but it ends up sounding strained and only partially realised. the remix is pretty good, considering what rieflin had to work with. his additions, subtractions and rearrangements all seem spot on. it sounds greasy, industrial and tribal all at once, which turns out to be a pretty good combination. well worth picking up if you can find a copy. oddly, the remix was only made available on the 'ty cobb' single, which was only available in australia. interestingly, the single also includes 'big dumb sex', so in conjunction with 'ty cobb' you get to hear chris say the word "fuck" about sixty times on the one disc. perhaps it wouldn't have taken much effort on rieflin's part to make a porno remix of soundgarden's material either. that's it for this week. soon, 'girl u want'. see you then. justin ------------- q: is it easy kicking so much ass? a: yes, because there is so much ass to be kicked out there. -matt cameron, 1998. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1999 00:20:57 EST From: A Lytt Subject: The Perfect Steal In a message dated 2/15/99 7:00:20 AM, LISTSERV@MITVMA.MIT.EDU wrote: << For anyone in NYC, Venus Records on St. Marks Place (between 2nd and 3rd) had a copy of BMF/SOMMS for $16 as of about 1pm today... -seth >> I got it! Thanks a million Seth. Wow, am I happy! Sorry to other N.Y. SOMMsters who also were hungry for this. sincerely, Anne p.s.-- Venus Records has lots of other great deals. ------------------------------ End of SOMMS Digest - 15 Feb 1999 to 16 Feb 1999 ************************************************